A printmaker that has influenced my work on Printmaking 1
I have been struck with the flat, bold colours and intricate cut-outs of Henri Matisse, the bright almost psychedelic work of Scarlette Homeshaw, however it is the more subtle intense overlapping colours and patterns of Hetty Haxworth that I feel has influenced me the most. Her work seems to encompass the abstract forms that I have searched for but have not been able to find or translate. Now, I believe that the influence of her work is starting to show me a way.
From her local Aberdeen landscapes, Haxworth visualises, records and takes pattern, organic form and blocks of abstract colour. Interpretations she has experienced on a given day are immediately noted, drawn or collaged on her return to the studio for reference at a later point when she is ready to print. an important discipline to learn from.
My ideas for my pebbles in Part 2 were partly developed from her use of solid colour blocks, her use of simple line and marks to create texture and pattern and the element of light background space that moves you from one layer to another.
Left image – my pebble print / Right Image – Shore: Hetty Haxworth
I took the space and pattern from Shore and incorporated wide white channels in my print to reflect the movement of the tide as it ebbed and flowed. In my next print I’m influenced by toppling pebbles, though my pebbles don’t overlap, they do show that wobble of imbalance as perhaps is the intention of Aqueous VI.
Left image – my falling pebble print / Right Image – Aqueous VI: Hetty Haxworth
In turn, I have looked also at the abstract work of Terry Frost and Victor Passmore and believe that maybe Haxworth has sought and taken influences from their abstract work of the 1960’s and 1970’s. The Stone Series has elements of Frost’s Straw, Orange, Blue; while Aqueous has influences of Passmore.
Frost: Straw Orange Blue 
Pasmore: Variation No.2 
Haxworth: Stone Series 
Haxworth:
Aqueous
Haxworth believes that pattern in nature is there to be found, be it a wire fence, patchworks of landscape, seashores or the built environment, they form a geometric abstract study. Not that I think geometrically, but I have taken her comments on board as I have researched this assignment and looked for pattern on my journey through the forest.
Mushrooms certainly have all sorts of pattern as do the forms of acorns. In my oak leaf studies in my sketchbook I have noted the vein structures and mesh patterns that have formed in the dried and dying leaves. I’ve looked at fences, sketched dead hedges and used inked lace and hessian to add texture in my sketchbook.
Comparing the pattern of my badly registered mushroom spots to that of the print Strata II (bottom left) has made me look again at my completed work and encouraged further exercises in my sketchbook.
It is heartening to read that Hexworth sees her work as an uncertain journey, often adjusting her colours as she works and I understand fully her point …..‘usually, only at the end, when it is all printed, does the effect reveal itself ‘….. I to have found that it can be that final layer of ink that brings the work together.
https://www.tathagallery.com/artist/hetty-haxworth
http://www.hetty-haxworth.co.uk/
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/frost-straw-orange-blue-p01153
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/pasmore-variation-no-2-p04918
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